One of Dumas' earliest works. A three act melodrama. See also the translation of the novel Ivanhoe that he did in his later years.
From A Bibliography of Alexandre Dumas père by Frank Wild Reed: A great spectacular melodrama in three acts. M. Glinel describes it as the first work by Alexandre Dumas, while he was still living at Villers Cotterets. We are probably to understand by this that it was the first work done alone, without any collaborator, since it is unlikely that it preceded "Les Abencerrages," "Le Major de Strasbourg" or "Le Diner des Amis."
The probable date is 1822. Alexandre Dumas fils obtained the manuscript from his father's early friend, Adolphe de Leuven, and in his turn presented it to the library of the town of Dieppe ; this was about 1886.
It has never been either printed or performed.
Again, according to M. Glinel, Dumas père, on one of his journeys to Paris, gave this piece to Mademoiselle Levèque, a famous actress of melodrama, and at the time interested in the management of the Ambigu theatre, from whom he received this official reply: "At the present time we are showing here some pieces by Pixéricourt, and are overstocked with plays."
